I am all for this. I just wonder how much legs this will have. I must say I never thought a neat tool of this sort would ever come to light. Very useful.

I like the general philosophy - there a couple things that disturb me ...

1) Their definition that DR14 is "right" somehow - I think it is too limiting (no pun intended). I believe an RMS of around -10, -11 is a good "commercial volume" after mastering and yet will leave good dynamics. (at least for my material). I think that translate to probably a DR9 or DR 10 on their scale.

2) The fact that anything that is not "DR14" basically gets turned down by the record company

From their "Our Aim" page: http://www.pleasurizemusic.com/en/our-aim

The objective is to revive the willingness to pay for music and therefore to create a healthier basis for all creative participants within the music industry.

We are not surprised by the fact that music listeners are losing the willingness to legally acquire music, because of the fact that contemporary releases are mercilessly over-compressed – a situation that turns off even the biggest music fans.

I can't verify this... I suspect it couldn't be verified in any case... but I don't buy the idea that "music listeners are losing the willingness to legally acquire music" because "contemporary releases are mercilessly over-compressed." Both facts may indeed BE facts. But their relationship...?

From the Agreement page: http://www.pleasurizemusic.com/en/agreement

Dear musicians and music creators: By checking the box "I agree" or "I commit," you are expressing your commitment on a completely voluntary and non-binding basis. This document has NO legal value.

But you are agreeing to a moral commitment and are also taking a public stance in favor of the creation and production of music having certain loudness and quality standards.

Please carefully read each voluntary "obligation" which is linked to an Agreement or Commitment:

* I agree 1 (Music Listener, Musician, Music Producer, Mixing Engineer, Consumer Electronic Industry)
* I agree 2 (Mastering Engineer)
* I agree 3 (MI & Pro Audio Industry)
* I commit 1 (Record Companies – during Phase 1)
* I commit 2 (Record Companies – during Phase 2

And more from the Our Aim page:

Phase one begins officially on April 1, 2009. We will inform music listeners around the world about the advantages of a more dynamic music and show them how to recognize this on recordings.
The DR logo provides a quality label recognizable by everyone inside and outside the industry. The logo is already available on this site for download and license-free use. It exists in several variations and will be visible on the back side of CD jewel cases (on the inlay cards) and tells the consumer how much dynamic range the album contains.
At the same time record companies which have already signed the voluntary Commitment 1 begin to furnish CD releases with a small info sheet (b/w, booklet dimensions) and will print the DR logo on the back of the CD. This way music consumers will be able to see how much music they really have in their shopping cart.

The whole thing sounds kind of boy-scouty and purity-ringy.

It leaves a bad taste in my ears.

I must not be human...I kept getting Invalid CAPTCHA token whenever I tried creating an account. Is there a trick to answering those math problems that I am unaware of?

Phase one begins officially on April 1, 2009. We will inform music listeners around the world about the advantages of a more dynamic music and show them how to recognize this on recordings.

April first eh?

ORIGINAL: Wookiee

Phase one begins officially on April 1, 2009. We will inform music listeners around the world about the advantages of a more dynamic music and show them how to recognize this on recordings.

April first eh?

I noticed that too! But I'm not cynical enough to point it out! heehee!

just realized that none of my tracks will pass the DR-14 benchmark. lol, be careful for what you ask for, it may just come true

Me too. I even used my calculator 5+2=7
May be because I'm not on my home computer?

ORIGINAL: CucamongaBlues

I must not be human...I kept getting Invalid CAPTCHA token whenever I tried creating an account. Is there a trick to answering those math problems that I am unaware of?

ORIGINAL: MatsonMusicBox
1) Their definition that DR14 is "right" somehow - I think it is too limiting (no pun intended). I believe an RMS of around -10, -11 is a good "commercial volume" after mastering and yet will leave good dynamics. (at least for my material). I think that translate to probably a DR9 or DR 10 on their scale.

2) The fact that anything that is not "DR14" basically gets turned down by the record company

If you read a little closer, you'll see that there's a follow-up to this. You don't *have* to stick to DR14 - but if you *don't*, then you have to label the CD with the actual DR value, and also reduce the overall master gain by a corresponding amount, so that the overall perceived volume will be the same as that of a DR14 CD. For example, what they're asking is that if you choose to release a DR7 album, then the overall level should be reduced by 7dB, to match perceived volume with CD's that *do* adhere to DR14.

This is interesting, in that it potentially has a long-term psychological impact on record labels that agree to the terms: I suspect that many people and companies would be reluctant to release a deliberately low-level, low-peak CD when they could, instead, release a full-range CD with better dynamics that will still have the same perceived volume.

However, I'm not personally sold on the concept yet. The movement and the organization will only be as strong as their contingency, and that contingency's adherence to the standard. If this becomes "the norm," then I see no reason not to go with it; but if it's not widely adopted, then DR14 does seem like an extreme limitation, given market tendencies. They even indicate the Norah Jones material, which clocks in at DR9 (not DR14) as being a nice balance of dynamics and marketability.

I think since this organization is fairly new, there will be changes when more people join in. The hard limit may prevent creativity since some material may sound good at levels less than DR-14. I tried one of my tracks that is very minimal in terms of instruments and the dynamics are not fluctuating that much. Its dance music with rhythm dominating a lonely guitar track that sets the melody. The rhythm elements only sound good when they dominate the melody hence reducing the dynamic range per these standards. hard to describe but trusting my ears, I have to go with lesser dynamic range here.